The Love Contract

Now that Alvina ‘Vina’ Song has hit the dreaded 30s, her family are desperate to get her married. She, however, is in no hurry to walk down the aisle. It’ll take a crazy scheme to get them off her back and Vina has the perfect one in mind; Orion Lee.

Too busy with his new business, Orion doesn’t have time for a girlfriend or a wife. But his crazy mother has a bee in her bonnet – something about shamans, zodiac signs and death. Vina’s convenient proposal seems like the perfect solution to his dilemma.

Now if only his new ‘girlfriend’ would stop making him weak with her soulful eyes and sexy smiles. The more he gets to know Vina the more tempted he is to push the boundaries of their agreement to accommodate his growing desire. It’s starting to look like their pretend romance might just turn out to be the real thing.

Excerpt

His lips touched hers softly at first, a light caress that almost felt like a whisper. And then his mouth hardened over hers. He parted her lips, snuck his tongue and kissed her, really kissed her. She was kissing him before she’d thought about it, moving closer to him just as his hands rose to circle her torso and drag her closer.

Heat like she’d never imagined seared through her. Being pressed against him so tightly, kissing him… it was better than anything she’d ever experienced, better than what she’d imagined. Their mouths melded, their tongues touched and swept as they consumed each other. Orion was like a drug she wanted to take more, and more, and more of.

When he finally pulled away, she was left breathless, unable to do anything other than look up at him. For a long moment, he just stared back at her as if he too was struck by the intensity of the moment. The look in his eyes was filled with so much desire that all she wanted to do was lift up on her toes and press her lips to his again. Fighting that urge, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Unfortunately that inhalation didn’t have quite the effect she was hoping for because all she got for her efforts was a nose-full of his intoxicating scent that left her craving him even more.

“Get in.” Orion’s deep voice seeped past her hypnotized senses.

“Hmm?” Vina opened her eyes.

“Get in.” He gestured towards the interior of the car.

Some part of Vina recalled that she’d wanted to get out of the car before the kiss, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember why. Silently, she obeyed Orion’s instructions and got into the car. He closed the door behind her. Those few seconds apart from him as he circled the car to get into the driver’s seat were enough to clear the haze that had clouded her thoughts.

The reality of what they’d just done sank in and the inevitable questions rushed in. Why had he kissed her? He knew as well as she did that their relationship was a ruse. Why would he kiss her? She could only think of one reason.

It was only once they were on their way that she found the courage to ask, “Did-” She cleared her throat. “Did you do it because of your brother?”

It was the only explanation that made sense, the only explanation she could accept. The thought of Orion being forced to kiss her was more palatable than him kissing her just because he wanted to. The latter reason implied that their relationship had crossed the ‘business-only’ boundary that she’d meticulously drawn.